Indestructible
by theBalance
Summary: Sequel to Valkyrie. Since It and Insomnia are set in the same town, I figured it's about time someone created a connection. Here's what I think Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos were up to in 1958 plus what happens when the Immortal refuses to be defeated
1. Prologue

**Valkyrie-It sequel**

_AN: this one's a fluke, people. It began to form after I finished reading _It._ lets see how it turns out. Valkyrie-Nona-Ma'at and Nat Deepneau's friends are, so far the only characters that come from me. My aunty still has _Insomnia_, but I still have _It_ on hand for reference_

**Prologue**

**1: Natalie Deepneau**

"nat'leeee? Can I _pleeeessseee_ go out to play?" sean carpenter's little sister sophie was one of the worst to babysit. That isn't to say she was a bad kid, she was good when she was content, but it was times like this she could give the Sirens of Greece a run for their money. Natalie Deepneau closed her cellphone, got up from the couch, crouched next to the six-year-old and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"can't you hear the rain, soph? it's too cold to go outside," she answered in her softest voice. "You can watch a dvd – I rented Ice Age for you. Or you can play Hello Kitty. Do you want me to set up the PlayStation so you can play Hello Kitty?"

"Kiddy!" sophie squealed excitedly. "can I really?"

"sure, soph, hang on, I'll just turn it on for you okay?"

"'kay."

Natalie rose, plucked the videogame from the bookshelf and placed it in the console. She turned on the tv, switched it over to the av channel and started the game for sophie before handing her the controller and sitting back down on the couch. She watched the girl struggle for a bit with the controls until she had the hang of it and then plucked _Angel Fire East_ by Terry Brooks from her purse and began to read.

It wasn't long before the sickly-happy music of the videogame was joined by the creepy music-box sound of natalie's _Candyman_ ringtone. She glanced at the lcd on her cellphone, saw that it was sean, glanced at sophie happily absorbed in beating up evil blockmen with kitty's magic wand and went into the bathroom to take her boyfriend's call.

The call wasn't as important as she'd hoped, he only wanted to know if soph was getting frightened by the storm and if she was being a good girl. Natalie answerd the brief questions (no and yes respectively) but it was't until she hung up the phone that she noticed the eerie silence coming from the lounge. That happy music was still going… but there were no sound effects. No high-pitched jumping noise, no chime when you picked up an item… where was sophie?

As soon as she stepped into the hallway, Natalie stopped dead in her tracks: the front door was wide open.

**2: the Little Bald Doctors**

_[… and so then we – what's wrong?]_ Valkyrie stopped mid sentence as her companion's face froze. _[come on, tell me!]_

Lachesis placed a hand on his throat and fell forward. _[how could It…?] _he choked finally._ [I don't understand… they _killed_ It!]_

The little bald woman bent to his level and gently forced him to look up at her. His eyes themselves seemed to flicker with horror. _[what are you talking about? What's wrong?]_ she repeated. _[whose 'they'? what's 'It'?]_

_[pennywise,]_ Lachesis hissed the nonsense-word in disbelief. _[no…]_ he corrected himself, _[It's Spawn. It has to be… something survived… and now that its grown it's…_

_(Mordred's a-hongry)_

_… It needs to be fed]_

_[I still don't understand…]_

_[there's no time to explain fully. Picture the worst monster you could possibly imagine… right, now picture it on a really bad LSD trip. _That's_ what we're up against. It takes kids, only they can see It: adults lack the imagination required – they're oblivious to It and It's dealings with our short-time friends. In the fifties we helped a bunch of kids to pacify It, then in the eighties we helped them to kill it and it's eggs. but it seems one of it's offspring survived the onslaught. We need to contact the Third: It's a Random like him, he can tell us where it is.]_

_[the Carpenter place,]_ Valkyrie and Lachesis turned to their visitor, _[it's almost got her.]_

_[then you're on our side for this?] _Lachesis asked hesitantly.

_[shitno,]_ Atropos replied. _[I'm on _my_ side. It just so happens that the opposite of my side is that motherfucker and the opposite of that motherfucker is _you._]_

_[a truce, then,]_ Valkyrie offered her hand.

_[a truce,] _the Random took it and the two looked to Lachesis, each holding a hand to him.

_[a truce,]_ he nodded at last, accepting. _[it's good to have you with us for a change.]_

**3: Pennywise II**

"just a little closer, sweetheart," it muttered to itself as the little girl cautiously peered out of the door. "it's only rain, dear, don't be frightened, _it_ won't hurt you." The clown stood on the edge of the footpath oblivious to the chill, knowing only that starvation festered inside of it and the twenty-five year fast was about to end. It took a diagonal step to the left and was suddenly enveloped within an electric glow.

The child's face brightened instantly: a clown! Like the one at Poppy's birthday party! Maybe he can make me a balloon animal! She waved in excitement and he waved a blood-red gloved hand in reply. _Come over!_ He gestured.

The little girl glanced a cautious look inside and ran down the steps, careul not to slip on the wet concrete and stood infront of the clown in awe, rolling on the balls of her feet.

"why hello, sophie! Fancy meeting you out here."

Sophie stood still, "you know my name?"

"but of course! All the good clowns know the names of all the good children. Are you a good child, Sophie?"

"I must be," she answered smartly. "you know my name."

"very good reasoning!" the clown chuckled gaily and stopped suddenly. "but you disobeyed your sitter," he tutted. "and children who do bad things need to be punished." Like a panther he lunged for her, his kind face twisting hideously. Sophie tried to dodge and was knoched to the pavement. She sat up in a daze and the clown loomed over her

_[enough!]_ a trio of voices shattered the night air and the clown turned to face his challangers. The three little doctors stood in a v-formation with the Random in the front. _[you can stay hungry,]_ the foremost sneered when they had It's attention.

It's eyes flared white as he hissed defiantly at them. _[what would you know? You're nothing but pawns. I am - ]_

_[eternal blah blab blah_weknow_.]_ Atropos interjected. _[that's exactly the same speech your mummy used and look where she is now. In the Deadlights: back where she belongs. Right where you're headed if you try and fuck with us.]_

_[you think you could silence me? I could crush you three midgets in one go if I tried.]_

_[well…?]_ Lachesis shrugged suggestively.

_[you don't dare, do you?]_ Valkyrie added after It hesitated. _[Derry's ours. You may be higher up in the food chain but the authority is ours, not yours. And you know it. go bug Lewiston or something.]_

The clown pulled himself up to his full height. Valkyrie responded by blowing into her palm, Lachesis clicked his fingers and Atropos twisted his fists. The three began to flare violet, gold and blue violently.

_[don't fuck with us,]_ Atropos repeated menacingly.

The clown turned away, knowing It was momentarily defeated. _[one by one.]_ It threatened as It retreated. _[you cannot stop me. i. am. Eternal.]_

**4: Reunion**

Lachesis and Valkyrie rushed to the little girls side as soon as It was gone and attempted in vain to rouse her: it seemed she had slipped into unconciousness while her would-be killer was distracted. Valkyrie picked her up instead.

"sophie!"

The three turned back to the house to see a teemage girl run from the door towards them.

_[hello, Natalie,]_ Atropos spoke her name calmly and the girl stopped and stared in disbelief. _[Long time, no see.]_


	2. 1st Chapter

**1****st**** Chapter - Reunion**

**1**

_[Don't start with that,]_ Lachesis cautioned the Random, _[we're not here to frighten her,]_ he added before stepping forward to take the spotlight. _[Miss Deepneau? Do you remember us, perchance?]_

Natalie looked, perplexed, from little face to little face. It was a long minute before she nodded. "Y-you took Ralph, didn't you?"

Although she wasn't present at the moment in question, Valkyrie answered, _[It was his time.]_

_[No,]_ Lachesis corrected her. He turned back to Natalie, _[it was _your_ time, Natalie. Ralph Roberts made the trade: his elderly life for your youth. Come, we need to get the little one indoors where it is warm and dry. Will her parents be returning soon?]_

Natalie nodded and motioned them to follow her inside. She walked as if in a dream, what else could this strange occurrence possibly be? She switched off the television and the game before collapsing into a nearby lay-z-boy and rubbed her hands over her numbing face. Valkyrie placed the child onto the sofa and knelt by her side while Lachesis and Atropos stood on either side of Natalie and waited for her to raise her head.

The former looked to his companion by the sofa and had to stifle a memory of Nona nursing Clotho's wounds after his battle with the Random ten years ago. Christ – had it already been a decade? Val was still only a child herself, Atropos was getting old and couldn't be trusted at any rate. Lachesis, though still technically young himself, had been in Maine since it's conception and as the agent of Purposeful Destiny, the fate of Derry's demon rested with him.

_[You want to know what this is all about,]_ he started.

"Can you stop talking like that please? It's a little disturbing," the teenager snapped meekly.

"S-sorry," Lachesis replied weakly, "old habits," he smiled. "We don't normally talk like this."

His smile was a little comforting to Natalie, it seemed as though it had thinned the stifling air created by her confusion. "What just happened?"

"Unfinished business," Atropos interjected. "You don't know much about Derry's history do you?"

Natalie shook her head.

"It's an All-Timer," Lachesis began.

"A _what_now?"

"All-Timer. Humans – like you… and her," he pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the child recovering on the couch, "are what we call Short-Timers: your lifespans are very limited. Fates – my colleagues and I – are Long-Timers: our lives are significantly extended compared to yours. All-Timers, however, live for such a time that they are seemingly immortal. The creature that attacked the girl is an All-Timer – and a young one at that."

"Are you an angel?" Natalie and the two fates turned to face the sofa. Sophie had stirred and was seemingly awed by the appearance of her nurse. "Where are your wings?"

Valkyrie shook her head, _[I'm not an angel, little one.]_

"A fairy then? I know! You're little like me, you're a pixie!"

Lachesis smiled at the show of innocence before turning back to Natalie, "We three need to get going. Speak with the master of Derry's library, he can tell you anything there is for mortals to know about It."

"Mr. Hanlon? What could he know about this?"

"Too much," Atropos answered. "Just mention the name 'Pennywise' and see him shudder."

Lachesis nodded, "Speak with him, then come find us in Bassey Park. Oh, I almost forgot: you may call me Lachesis," pointing to the Random, "he is Atropos. And she… she is…

_(Nona)_

_(Ma'at)_

(Clotho)

Valkyrie."

At the mention of her name, Val stood and curtsied before walking to Lachesis' side and linking her hand through the crook of his elbow.

Natalie watched as the three fates seemed to converse in silence before disappearing suddenly with a soft _pop_ as the air filled the places they had been. Were it not for that small noise, she would've been convinced it was some sort of illusion. Three bald midgets dressed as doctors from the nifty 'fifties had just entered her life and saved her boyfriend's sister from a monster that she hadn't even seen yet and told her to interview Mike Hanlon about it.

She won't be sleeping tonight.

**2 - 1958**

[Can't you feel It stirring? You _must_ help us, brother. It isn't a part of Derry like we first perceived – It will _destroy _this place in the end. The Short-Time lives rest with us. The Balance of the Four Constants is in peril. _We have to end it!]_

_Atropos looked at the desperation in his counter-part's face, felt it in his voice, saw it in his eyes. The two of them stood in the center of the Barrens, a section of Derry that is anything but. A couple of boys squatted a few meters away from them working in vain to build a shoddy dam against the currents of the Kenduskeag._

[So, how do you propose we do that? You know we don't have the authority to fight It, just as we can't fight between ourselves.]

_Clotho looked to the kids by the river. In the distance, the two fates heard a terrified shriek. The boys continued to build, oblivious – or maybe they already knew what that particular scream meant in a place like Derry._

[We've already begun,]_ he replied and looked up at a steep cliff that separated the Barrens from Kansas Street a couple of hundred meters from them. They watched as a chubby kid ran into view and was followed by three others. The fat kid was backed up against the railing. Lachesis appeared next to him, seeming to wait for the boy to show some sign of courage. After a time, he did: he kicked his foremost attacker in the gut._

['Atta boy,] _Lachesis uttered_. [Brace yourself, kid.]_ The fate placed his hands on the trashy white rail. _[Kick 'im again,]_ he urged. The boy seemingly obeyed, at the same moment, the rail cracked, beginning from where Lachesis' hands rested and the boy fell down the embankment. The fate slid down after him, _he_ was followed by the foremost bully. _[It's just a scratch, kid. Stand you ground, you'll be alright.]

[I shotgun that one,]_ Atropos pointed to the bully._

[I don't think the decision's ours anymore,]_ Clotho smiled as the confusion unfolded before them. Now, the fat kid was on his feet, the bully was on the ground, still as death but unfortunately for the boys by the river, still alive._

_To their horror, the boy bent over his adversary. _[No! Stay away from him! Shit!]_ Lachesis' warning didn't go through this time, the bully grabbed the boy's ankle, but to the surprise of all three fates, the kid kicked the downed teenager in the crotch and began to gloat. _[Run already!]_ Lachesis urged, but the boy remained as if in a trance until he was struck by a stone._

[Stay with him,]_ Clotho called to his colleague. Lachesis nodded and ran after the kid, into the nearby bushes. He turned back to Atropos, _[There will be four more children, plus those two,]_ he pointed to the boys at the river, _[makes seven. Ka will do the rest once the Chosen are together.]

[Why can't we just show ourselves to them? Kids believe in anything they'll listen to us.]

_Clotho shook his head, _[They already have enough trauma ahead of them. We need to be subtle: anything more will blow their minds. Get them together; keep them alive, that's all we need to do. Are you with us?]

[I have as much to loose as you two: I'm with you.]

[Thank you,]_ Clotho smiled. _[The Hanscom boy will be here soon, we must wait.]

***

_Lachesis waited patiently as the boy slept in his hiding place. He could see Clotho and Atropos conversing through the trees. Every now and then, the kid would give a startled twitch before drifting back into sleep. When Ben Hanscom woke and started to walk towards the river, Lachesis fell into step with him and led him towards his colleagues and the two boys that were Eddie Kaspbrak and Bill Denborough._

**3**

_[You and Clotho were talking about that creature, weren't you?]_ Valkyrie asked when Lachesis and Atropos ended their narrative. The three were in the underground home of the two Purpose fates.

Atropos nodded, _[It is nameless, faceless, shapeless. Fearless. We tried twice to get those kids to destroy It and failed. I think this time we need to be a part of the seven or we're fucked.]_

_[Indeed,] _Lachesis agreed. _[We didn't step forward the last two times and that was our downfall. We can't just lend them our strength; we have to give it all we've got. Maturin is dead, it's up to us. Val,]_ he rose and crouched next to her chair, placing his hand over hers, _[I know you're young. But I saw the way you fought for Clotho ten years ago. You're stronger than you think.]_

_[The kid's right,]_ Atropos added._ [When I threatened _him_ on the day of your Becoming, I swear I saw murder in your eyes.]_

Valkyrie nodded her understanding, _[so, where to from here? The Deepneau girl alone isn't enough. Who are the others?]_

_[Three she can trust, and thus can we,] _Lachesis answered._ [The little one's brother is one but all three are yet to be awakened. The most successful way is for us to rob them of their sleep. It will take some time for them to be open to us. Until then, we can only wait, leaving It's Spawn to It's own devices. More will die, but they cannot be saved. Tomorrow, Natalie will go to the librarian: the last 'Loser' in Derry. We three need to be where _she_ can't see us, but _he_ can hear us,] _he turned to the Random. _[go home if you wish, the two of us have sleep to shatter.]_


	3. 2nd Chapter

**2****nd**** Chapter – Memories**

At sixty-four, the head librarian of Derry's public library was no stranger to nightmares. A recent one sees him reliving a suppressed memory of being chased. The twelve-year-old is fleeing something through the ruins of the Kitchener Ironworks but no matter how hard he looks, the pursuer is nowhere in sight. Every now and then, something blots out the sun for a second, but no matter how strong his curiosity, the boy refuses to look up.

He runs into a great overturned chimney stack and stops in his tracks: seemingly waiting for him is a pale little bald man with haunting black eyes wearing a 'fifties doctor's smock.

"What's chasing me?" he asks the little man in desperation. "What does it want?"

The little bald man remains silent and points to the sky directly above him.

The boy-librarian shakes his head in defiance, "I can't."

The strange man continues to point but still the boy refuses to look. Eventually, the little man breaks his silence with unmoving lips: _[You must… Look your fear in the eyes… Do not let it hold you down… Tell your tale… For your story is yet unfinished…]_

**2**

For the fourth time this week, Mike Hanlon wakes in a cold sweat. _I'm too old for this,_ he scolds himself. _If I loose anymore sleep, I'll start seeing things, hearing things…_

_[See the turtle of enormous girth…]_

The utterance causes Mike to snap his head around to his bedroom door. _I know that voice…_ instantly, his mind begins to conjure long-suppressed images of spiders and turtles and birds.

_(Oh, my!)_

_[Upon his back he holds the Earth…]_ this second input is unfamiliar to him. Similar to the first, but soothingly feminine. Before he could comprehend anything more, the owners of the voices stepped into the open from either side of the doorframe, standing not much taller than the middle of the frame itself. The eerie twins were almost too much for the elderly man to bear.

Luckily, Hanlon was still sitting up in his bed when he began to sway to the left. Impossibly, Valkyrie had crossed the room to prevent the gent from hitting his head on the steel headboard.

Visibly shaking, Mike Hanlon placed his elderly hands over his elderly eyes. "The turtle is dead," he began to utter hysterically, and turned to face his visitors. "_It_ said so… _sköldpadda…_ _Dead!"_

Lachesis stepped forward from the doorway and nodded, and although Mike didn't see it, it seemed he felt it though, for he looked up. _[That's why we're here, Mr. Hanlon.]_

_[To set everything right,]_ Valkyrie finished.

_[To awaken your memories,]_ Lachesis added as an afterthought.

The short-timer raised a brow in perplexity, and then shook his head like a child, the pursuing shadow in his dream rising from the back of his mind. "I-I can't," he told the apparitions, unknowingly echoing his dream-self.

Lachesis smiled, _[You must,]_ he repeated.

Valkyrie: _[Look your fear in the eyes] _Lachesis: _[Your story is yet unfinished.]_

_[Natalie Deepneau will come and see you today,]_ Lachesis continued._ [Tell her what you can, shield her from nothing. You wrote a journal in the eighties: use it.]_ The fate reached into his pocket and tossed a little something that glittered to Hanlon, _[If that fails, try this.]_

_[Sweet dreams, Mr. Hanlon.]_

The little bald doctors cast each other a glance and disappeared with a thick _pop_.

Mike Hanlon unfurled his fingers: resting on his palm was a round, hastily made silver bullet.

**3-Nineteen Fifty-eight**

[_That's_ who you've chosen?] _Atropos sounded mildly disgusted._ [A four-eyed jester just _begging _for an arse-kicking and a stringy little Jew who'll be knocked over if the fat kid _sneezes_? You must be fucking kidding me! These kids won't stand a fucking cha -]

[They have heart,]_ Clotho cut him off quietly. _[It's all they'll need, trust me for a change.]

[They will all have the same motive in the end,] _Lachesis added, falling into step between the short-time boys. _[An unspoken desire to send It back to the Deadlights.]

_Without warning, the bespectacled boy yelled a nonsensical sentence (something to do with a Y-pool and bellybutton lint,) broke into a run and lumbered down the path to where Bill Denborough, Eddie Kaspbrak and Ben Hanscom crouched next to their second dam. The second boy, who Atropos had now affectionately dubbed "the Runt", struggled to catch up to his friend._

_The fates arrived in time to hear Bill and Eddie introduce the newcomers as Richie Tozier and Stanley (Atropos: _[he suits "runt" better.]_) Uris._

[Seven down, two to go,] _Clotho muttered proudly as the boys began to make their acquaintance._

[Who're the last two?] _Atropos asked sarcastically. _[Tweedledum and Tweedledee? Or maybe the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse? A fine fucking tea party this is tur-]

[Shut up,] _Lachesis interrupted. _[You agreed to this, nobody _made_ you come, quit bitching.]

_Atropos turned to Clotho, mock-shock written on his face._ [are you just gonna stand there and let that little shit talk to me like that?]

[Why not?] _The Purpose shrugged._ [He's right: we can't _make_ you cooperate, it was your choice.]

**4**

_[How often have you done this?]_ Valkyrie asked as they stood at the foot of Sean Carpenter's bed.

_[About three times too many,]_ Lachesis replied after a pause. _[Ralph Roberts, Lois Chasse … and you. Stand back, this is delicate.]_

Valkyrie observed silently as her companion strode over to the left side of the teenager's bed and climbed up. Crouched next to the still form, he placed his outstretched hands over the boy's chest and closed his eyes. Slowly, Lachesis' aura began to blend with the boy's light blue one, in short pulses at first then gradually the aura changed to a deep turquoise as the doctor's gold merged with it.

The moment Lachesis removed his hands, Sean Carpenter's eyes flickered open and he seemed to look directly at Valkyrie, then to Lachesis. It wasn't until he shook his head tiredly and rubbed his face that she realized he couldn't see them yet.

In the next room they could hear his little sister dreaming the nightmares of the haunted. _[We should really check on her,]_ Valkyrie stated as Lachesis jumped off the bed.

_[No, we shouldn't,]_ he answered bluntly. _[Sophie Carpenter doesn't need us just yet.]_

_***_

_[Damn, we should've kept that Danville kid a little longer,]_ Lachesis muttered as they made their way to the next house: Natalie's best friend Charlotte and her brother Kyle were hopefully to be the last two kids to see Pennywise for what It really was. _[He would've been perfect.]_

_[You know we couldn't possibly have changed that,] _Valkyrie replied. _[The Gunslinger needed him more than us.]_

_[Yeah, I know,] _Lachesis sighed. _[He would've made this so much easier for us, though. There'd be no need to place Natalie in danger again, particularly after the sacrifice Ralph made for her.]_

_[Don't be so sure about that. After what you've told me about this thing, do you really think we could've gotten Patrick into the Deadlights and kept him alive long enough to actually _draw_ It?]_

_[It would've been difficult, yes, but definitely possible. Come on, last stop for the night, then home.]_

**5**

After bidding him goodnight, Valkyrie watched Lachesis slip into his chamber and wished it would be so easy for her. For some reason, she had been experiencing strange dreams of familiar faces and foreign names. Who were Priam, Iapetos and Ma'at? Instead of retiring to her own room, she strolled outside to a red-barked tree that she remembered was no higher than herself on the day of her Becoming. Now, the tree seemed to compete with the one that acted as an entryway to her home. Now, it always seemed to be a good place to think. She ran a hand over the black mark someone had left in the trunk as the names cycled through her mind. _Priam… Iapetos… Ma'at… Ma'at… Priam… Iapetos…_

She couldn't help but think of what she had witnessed Lachesis doing that night: hijacking sleep from Short-Timers… _Is it possible that an All-Timer is doing that to me?_


	4. INTERLUDE

**INTERLUDE: Valkyrie's Insomnia, Atropos' Ear**

**AN: Yeah, I know it's a bit long for an interlude, but I couldn't help myself.  
**

**1**

Lachesis woke up and immediately sensed something amiss. He peeked into Valkyrie's room, only to find it empty and the bed un-slept in. Eventually, he finds her outside sitting on Clotho's grave twirling the scissors on her finger. She stops the blade with her left hand and spins it the other way, only to stop it again and repeat the process as though in a trance. Ultimately, Lachesis stepped forward to stop the blade himself and pries it from her hands. She doesn't look at him throughout the entire conversation, but at the impression of the scissors seared onto the trunk of the feijoa tree.

_[Can't sleep?]_ Lachesis asks hesitantly, sitting next to her and holding the shears in his lap.

_[No shit,]_ Val replies dryly.

_[Wanna tell me what's wrong?]_

_[You tell me: you're the one with the visions. Why should I be getting them?]_

_[Visions?]_

_[Dreams… more like memories. A long time ago, my name was Ma'at. Am I right?]_

_[You're not supposed to know…]_

_[I was married to an orchardist…]_ she continued, ignoring him._ [But, my lover, Priam – I'd known him since we were young and before I was betrothed, I helped him take care of his baby brother - Iapetos. I conceived a child to him and managed to keep her true paternity from my husband – until she grew. She looked so much like her father… my husband had her slain.]_

_[Val… I never knew that much, I'm sorry.]_

_[Her name was Lachesis,]_ Valkyrie concluded, ignoring her companion's sympathy. _[This is your area of expertise – tell me what it means.]_

Lachesis was taken aback by this revelation. _[I-in all honesty, I can't say,]_ he stammered finally_ [The fact that your daughter had my name – that could mean everything, it could mean nothing. Were they consistent? The dreams?]_

_[No, in the first one I found the child's body, in the second I was in my lover's arms. It seemed they were confused…]_

_[Have you been able to make anything of it for yourself?]_

_[Not much – but it doesn't make sense… it doesn't seem to fit.] _Valkyrie finally turned her head to her companion and he can see that she'd been crying. _[I can't help but think I'm going to loose you.]_

_[Oh, Val. I won't leave you any time soon, you know that.]_ He brushed the remaining tears from her cheeks and kissed the corner of her eye.

Valkyrie took his hand and held it between hers against her bosom. He could feel the erratic beat of her heart beneath her left breast. _[You can't promise that. Atropos said death is no longer in our hands. What if this little quest of ours costs me you? I-if that's the price of preserving Derry, I – I don't want to fight anymore.]_

Lachesis pulled his hand free and placed them both on her shoulders, forcing her to face him._ [You can't mean –!]_

_[I do!]_ She shrieked hysterically before he could finish. _[It's too soon! I keep fearing that no matter how hard I fight on the day it won't make any difference to your fate. I can't have your death on my shoulders. How can I exist without you?]_ She finished in a whisper and collapsed on his shoulder.

By the time dawn began to seep into the void of night, her sobs had subsided. Weakly, Valkyrie rose and peeled Lachesis' grip from around her.

_[Where are you going?] _Lachesis asked timidly. _She's not in her right mind,_ something inside him warned.

_[To speak with Iapetos.]_ She confirmed his inner-voice.

**2**

She found Atropos seated in his makeshift lounge, his legs stretched and crossed at the ankles and his fingers laced together. He seemed to be waiting for her.

_[Iapetos…] _she began.

_[I know why you're here, Ma'at.]_ He interrupted, sitting up straight. _[You want to know why you've been given certain knowledge that is usually hidden from the likes of us, correct?]_

Valkyrie was startled, _how could he know? [Did you send me those dreams?]_

Atropos shook his head, _[look around you, sweet-cheeks. You think I'd have that sort of power? I can't tell you who sent them, but I can help you understand them. How much do they tell you?]_

_[Everything: the first time I saw you, Priam was holding a dagger over you in your cot. Did you know that?]_

The Random's eyes widened. _[Everything? Every memory of your short-time life? What about Nona?]_

_[Who's Nona?]_

_[Never mind,]_ unconsciously, Atropos' hand reached up to his throat – to where the once-St Christopher medallion now hung around Valkyrie's neck. _[Clotho… Priam… wanted me dead?]_ He remembered vaguely looking up at his brother as he argued with the Long-Time Nona, his sister's namesake Valkyrie and his own predecessor, Morte.

The Purpose mirrored his gesture and looked at the silver pendant as she entwined the chain around her hand. The St Christopher had been transformed by the fate in front of her to resemble an open pair of scissors and a scalpel – but she didn't know that. All she knew was that it was all she wore on the day she woke up, groggy and confused underneath the feijoa tree outside her home.

Returning to the present, she nodded. _[He blamed you for you mother's death: it was me who stayed his hand.]_

**3**

"_Priam, no!"_

_But the boy she had grown up with, the boy she had grown to love, was unmoving. Even though his back was turned to her, she knew his handsome face would be contorted by an ugly hatred._

_"He killed her…" Priam uttered, without turning around. He tightened his grip on the hilt of the ornate dagger, raising it, preparing to strike. "He… _killed_… her!"_

_Ma'at rushed forward, ignoring the danger of her friend's distress and snatches the babe from his crib. "You think that if you kill him, your mama will return? Do not be foolish, Priam! Clotho herself cannot bring her back and you will so willingly give this child up to Atropos? _Lachesis_ has gifted this child to us and we will raise him like our own. Call him Iapetos if you wish for he has wounded you so but do not kill him!"_

_Priam glared at her but knew he could not hate her._

_She glared right back defiantly but diverted her attention when the child began to cry. She easily hushed him with a kiss on his little nose. She didn't see Priam looking on, astonished. Hugging the infant to her bosom, she raised her head to her oldest friend with pleading eyes._

"_All right," Priam nodded eventually, placing the dagger in its sheath and replacing it on the mantle. He stepped forward and Ma'at placed the child in his arms. "Iapetos…" he whispered as the baby, still red-faced from crying, reached up to grasp his brother's nose…_

**4**

_[Iapetos…]_ Valkyrie began again but Atropos silenced her with a gesture.

_[I saw it,]_ he stated simply and rose from his chair. _[It was so vivid…]_ he gently took her right hand between his and added, _[there must be something in them, something someone higher up wants you to discover. Maybe it'll be something to help us defeat this creature, maybe it's some sort of warning… whatever it is, I'll help you find it, I promise.]_

_[Thank you, Brother,] _she smiled into his scarred face. _[How can I repay you?] _When her eyes rested on the hole under his left temple, the answer came to her immediately. As if by impulse, she glanced around the room. Atropos watched perplexed as she strolled over to a makeshift shelf where a small carved wooden box lay forgotten after seventeen years. He made to stop her when she reached for it but thought the better of it. _Something else is controlling her,_ he realized when she carefully removed the lid and placed it underneath the box.

She picked up the contents and doubled over, dropping the box and clutching the left side of her head in agony. Atropos ran to her and when she raised her head he saw blood seeping between her fingers from an unseen wound. His severed ear was clutched in her right hand. The lobe was torn in an angry V that matched his other ear. He moved to take it from her when her hands closed over the detached extremity and she stood, bidding him rise with her.

The ear was perfectly preserved, untouched by either decay or carrion beasts, the blood on the lobe and the severed edge still fresh even though the Atropos' wound had healed years ago. Valkyrie caressed the open wound and Atropos flinched as he felt the touch in his scar tissue. The Purpose drew her scissors from her pocket, for a split second, the Random thought she would use them to cut the thing in two before she flicked them open and rested one of the sharp blades against his scar.

_[Do it,]_ he urged her.

In reply, she applied pressure to the tip and cut into the healed tissue, locking eyes with her counter-part as he winced through the procedure. Keeping her eyes on his, she dragged the blade down until the hideous scar was completely scored in two. She folded them closed and returned them to the pocket in her smock, still keeping her eyes locked with the Random's. She raised the ear in her cupped palm and blew on it, as though making one of her psychic bullets, enveloping the ear in a violet haze. Slowly, she leaned forward and kissed the incision lightly before placing the glowing ear over it and absently licking Atropos' blood off her lips. Holding it in place with her right hand, she sucked away the violet, letting the Random's maroon aura reclaim it.

Valkyrie stepped back, admiring her work, Atropos turned and strode over to the ancient mirror on the far wall. Turning his head to the right as far as he could, he examined the ear, looking in vain for a seam of some kind. Even the lobe had returned to its whole self. He looked up at Valkyrie's reflection and nodded his thanks.

_[We three are ka-tet, whether we like it or not.]_

Val nodded her agreement, _[We have to fight this to the end, don't we? No matter what it costs us,]_ she felt a pang as she thought of her argument with Lachesis that morning. _[You won't back out, will you?]_

Atropos shook his head lightly. _[We share a bond, you and I. You spared my life then, but I couldn't save yours. Maybe this is my chance to make up for it. I'm old, Ma'at, not spent. I'll look out for you, and if that high-class fuck doesn't like it, he can suck my white hairless arse.]_


	5. 3rd Chapter

**3****rd**** Chapter**

**1: Nineteen Fifty-eight**

[I like this one,] _Atropos looked into the aura of the girl seated in front of him. _[She has a fire in her.]

[One that cannot be quelled,] _ Clotho agreed as he sat to the girl's left on the bench halfway up Center Street Hill._

[That's why I chose her,]_ Lachesis added, seated on her right. _[And she doesn't look like much now, but the others will follow her almost to the point of a blind man that has found God.] _He reached up like Aladdin reaching for the lamp and gently touched the bruise on her cheek. _[Fire, anger and a stubborn refusal to be broken,]_ he mused sadly._

_The fates looked up, seeing Richie Tozier give up on his yo-yo, sticking it back in his pocket, miming wrapping a coat around his torso (Atropos: _[aw, Jesus, _here_ we go…]_) and pulling an imaginary slouch hat over his head._

"_Hello, shweetheart," Tozier began and Atropos rolled his eyes. _[Does this kid ever quit?]

_He turned to Lachesis as the children got acquainted, _[so, what's your game-plan, kid? Mash the seven dwarves together in the hopes to foil the wicked witch of the west?]

[Wrong fairy-tale,] _Lachesis answered absently as he watched the girl do tricks with Richie's yo-yo. Only when she finished with two Around the Worlds, did he return his attention to the Random._

[It never occurred to me you might have what the Shorty's will come to think of as ADHD…]_ Clotho teased._

_Lachesis waved off the comment, _[as soon as they meet Mike Hanlon, the septet will be whole. They each have their tales to tell and will form a plan of their own from there.]

[_That's_ your plan? Biff all the ingredients in a bowl, mix it all up and _hope_ it tastes like cake?]

_Clotho shrugged, _[we're what the short-timers call "winging it." Bring the seven spokes together and _ka_ will do the rest. Of course, we may have to give the wheel a little push every now and then, but if the spokes are strong, nothing will stop it.]

[You trust that much in Maturin?]

[the bible was written by the short-time sages as a guideline: an ancient book of Aesop's Fables. The stories aren't to be blindly believed, only the morals which they try to convey. Such is the faith we have in Maturin.]

[I'm not fighting for the Purpose if that's what you're asking, I won't trust Maturin, either.]

[You and we are conflicting forces,] _Lachesis answered. _[We can't make you join us, just cease your games as we have ours. Leave the children to play their part.]

[You write a compelling argument, kid,] _Atropos nodded, Lachesis shrugged. _[I'll leave them be.]

**2**

"You didn't have to come," Natalie Deepneau said softly after Sean enveloped her in his arms and planted a thick kiss on her lips. "How's Soph?" she added as he opened the library door and ushered her inside.

"She woke me up last night," he began as he swept his arm before him in a bad imitation of a butler. "I think she had a nightmare or something. What happened last night? She kept asking for the Pixie-Lady."

"I think that's what we're here to find out," Natalie replied, stepping up to the service desk. She cleared her throat rudely and dark-haired woman behind the counter looked up and smiled instantly.

"Nattie, sweetie! What are you doing in here so early? I thought you'd finished all your work for this semester. Hello, Sean." She added and her smile shrunk a little.

If Natalie knew the back-story, she would not have been so surprised at her mother's lack of trust in the male species. Instead, she blushed a little. "Please don't call me Nattie in public, mum."

"Why not?" Sean jested, winking at Helen Deepneau. "I think it's cute."

Helen chuckled slightly, "You call this public?" she gestured to near-deserted library: a couple, presumably married, browsed on opposite sides of the magazine section; a few scattered students were up to some last-minute swatting; and an elderly gentleman hid behind this morning's _Derry News Weekend Edition_ in the lounge area. The front page showed a photo of a cherub-looking boy, not much older that Sean's sister Sophie, but without her glasses, Natalie couldn't read the heading.

Before she could turn back to her mother, the man folded his paper revealing his dark stubbly face and rose to greet her.

"Natalie!" – As loud as he dared, even in the library's current state of desertion – "don't see you in here very often." He feigned surprise and it seemed Natalie didn't see through it.

"Hi, Uncle Mike," she replied with a smile, "how's the writing going?"

"Oh, I'll never be a Bill Denborough."

"Mind if I speak with you for a bit? I can come back later if you're… um… busy." She glanced at the paper behind him jokingly.

"Not at all, Natalie, not at all! Now's as good a time as any." He turned and gestured for her and Sean to follow.

_What was that about?_ Helen mouthed to her before she could follow.

_Don't worry, mum, I'll tell you later,_ she answered simply.

Mike Hanlon led the young couple to his office. "Tea, coffee or Milo?" he asked as he leaned his back against the door to keep it open. One hand seemed to fiddle with something in his coat pocket.

"Milo, please," they replied as one.

"Do you know why I came?"

The librarian didn't answer as he made the drinks so Natalie and Sean decided to take their seats in front of the desk: two cheap black swivel-chairs, thirty dollars at your nearest Warehouse store. _Where everyone gets a bargain!_ Natalie sang unkindly in her head as she sat down. She quelled the nasty thought ruthlessly.

"That wasn't what you wanted to ask first, was it?" he answered as he placed three cups down: two a chocolaty brown and one with a teabag in it.

"Pennywise," it came out like a buckshot before she could think and Mike shuddered, just like Atropos said he would.

Sean gave her a questioning look and Hanlon pulled whatever-it-was from his pocket and seemed to roll it in his closed fist. Natalie didn't get a chance to see it, but it must've been small.

Mike Hanlon tented his hands in front of his nose and lowered his face. With a sigh, he raised his head and began to tell his tale…

**3 – Nineteen Fifty-eight**

[Lucky last, aye?] _Atropos fell into step next to the African-American boy and imitated his walk: hands in pockets, head bowed as though praying _just this once_ to be invisible._ [Whaddo you think, kid?]_ The Random pretended to talk to him. _[Yeah?]_ As though he had received a reply,_

[Knock it off,] _Lachesis commanded meekly._

_The Random ignored him, _[Really? But that little dickhead's so fuckin sure of himself. You know what I think? You're screwed.]

_Clotho shook his head when Lachesis moved to interrupt again and decided to change the subject: _[You're gonna hate this bit.]

[Lemme guess:]_ Lachesis replied dryly, _['there's no avoiding it' is there? That's what you always say.]_ He was looking at a bush on the side of the road ahead of him and their charge_

_Clotho nodded, just as a horribly familiar figure stepped from the bushed and uttered: "Hello, Nigger."_

_Mike Hanlon took a couple of steps back, meekly looking around him, unknowingly locking eyes with Lachesis for a split second. _[Feign,] _the fate commanded as Henry Bowers told the frightened Mike that he wasn't black enough._

_As Ben Hanscom had done, it appeared as though the boy had heard and managed to divert away from the bully, foiled only by the mud in Mike's path._

[Fuck! Not again!] _Lachesis swore as the boy slid to his knees and Bowers fell upon him with the ferocity of a lion, chanting 'Niggerniggernigger!' as he smothered the poor kid with mud. Clotho was forced to use all his might to hold his colleague back._

[Why won't you let me help him?] _Lachesis whined._

[Because he must endure it. you'll see.]

* * *

_The Fates followed the boy home after his ordeal and stayed with him until he met the rest; leaving Bill, Ben, Richie, Stan, Eddie and Beverly to their own devices; letting the children discuss their horrors. Perhaps it was their unknown presence that led the older, wiser version of Mike Hanlon to believe they had indeed been drawn together through some force other luck and free will… that everything that happened in the summer of 1958 had happened entirely on Purpose._

_On the third of July, the three fates went three separate ways: Atropos' task was to lead Henry Bowers' gang towards Mike Hanlon, where Lachesis waited to give the child strength and speed if he needed it. Lachesis and Atropos would lead Hanlon to a section of the Barrens, an old gravel-pit to be precise, near the trainyards. It was here that Clotho waited with the Losers: who would've thought World War Three would take place in a little place like Derry?_

**4**

Throughout his narration, Mike Hanlon hesitated often, casting nervous glances towards the filing cabinet on his left; or passing that little silver-glinting thing between his hands. Less than an hour had passed by the time he concluded, even though it seemed the tale would go on until dawn the next day. Adding to the surrealism of the moment, their cups had remained full and warm.

Sean was the first to speak afterwards. "Wait… this 'penny-eyes'… is that what you called It?"

"Pennywise," Hanlon corrected calmly.

"Pennywise, right – is that what happened to my sister?"

"It appears so."

Neither of the men noticed Natalie staring at the filing cabinet, or the shimmer of air that had caught her eye in the first place.

"But, didn't you guys kill it? Sorry, but, this sounds all too much like a Stephen King horror-of-the-corny-kind to me."

"Yes, we killed it, and Benjamin did his best to crush all the eggs, but he told me they were countless – he could easily have missed one. The timing is right also: the cycle seems to be about twenty-five to twenty-seven years-"

Natalie cut him off by raising her hand in a silencing gesture though she still seemed to stare into space. "You _did_ know I was coming, didn't you?" she whispered. "Show yourselves!" she commanded to the air.

A muttered _[Shit!]_ came as an answer before the air in front of the cabinet flickered like a mirage on a hot road.

Sean carpenter was almost startled out of his chair when the empty space suddenly filled with two short white-clad figures.

The male figure winced as his female companion squeezed his hand and the expression was quickly replaced with a nervous smile.

"You were eavesdropping weren't you?" Natalie sounded angry.

Valkyrie replied first: _[No, we…]_"Sorry, we weren't!" she sounded distressed, like a child trying to justify herself for kissing the boy next door.

"You lie!" the teenager scolded.

"We _can't_ lie!" Lachesis retorted.

Natalie: "What if _that_ was a lie?"

Valkyrie: "we're going around in circles…"

Lachesis: "see: that wasn't a lie…"

"Stop it! _Please!" _Sean almost shrieked. _So this is what it feels like to go insane._ "You're giving me a headache! Who the hell are you and where the fuck did you come from?"

Lachesis took a deep breath and replied calmly: "Apologies, Master Carpenter, but you are not prepared to see us yet. However, there are some events which cannot be avoided. Madness is always a danger when dealings are made between Short- and Long-Timers. You may call me Lachesis, while my colleague and young friend is Valkyrie," he failed to notice how quickly he began to sound like Clotho. "It was we who coaxed the so-called 'Pennywise' from claiming your sister last night."

Sean gave the little bald doctors a completely unbelieving look, said look fading instantly when Lachesis spoke the next sentence: "It is my own dear Valkyrie to whom Sophie Carpenter refers to as the 'Pixie-Lady'."

**5 – From the **_**Derry News Weekend Edition,**_** Saturday 13****th**** November 2010**

'_**FIND OUR SON' DESPERATE PARENTS BEG DERRY**_

_A despairing 911 call received by local emergency services last night has sparked a Derry-wide search beginning at around eleven pm last night. As of this paper going to print, the Derry Police Department have found no leads as to the six-year-old's whereabouts. Police are asking residents to keep a lookout for Garrick Anderson (pictured), who was last seen in his bedroom of the Anderson's Up-Mile Hill Road home at around eight-thirty pm._

_Police are not revealing any details at the present time. However, this reporter managed to overhear a constable reporting to his superior officer how 'awkward it was that the child's bedroom windows were closed and latched' and that 'the forensic team has revealed no fingerprints but the Andersons' own on the sill.'_

_When asked if she had a message for Derry's residents, a tearful Mrs. Tabitha Anderson replied 'We just want our baby boy back.'_

_DERRY'S CURSED PAST_ _turn to page D6_


End file.
